Next doors fence - what do I do here?

[NoNamesLeft86]

Right I've moved into a new property. Wasnt ideal due to the garden but was escaping a bad relationship and needed to move fast and it was the best of a bad bunch.

Anyway. So the garden isnt secure. One side belongs to my landlord, which is the best of the 2 sides but has panels missing and is falling apart. I am hoping my landlord is going to fix this. Or at least go halves with me or something.

Other side belongs to Next door. Crappy wall that was originally waist height ish but is falling down and in places non existent and in others very low. The bits that are still high are all loose brick and off if you so much as touch them.

I have 4 kids. 3 have Autism and one with severe learning difficulties. I also have 2 dogs which are not the best at listening and have a few issues of their own - both rescues that have been abused and have become reactive.

Anyway so this is a bit of a nightmare for me. The dogs cant be let out without me taking them out on leads. Which is hard when they have been used to free use of a large garden. Kids cant really use the garden in the same way they did before. Need highly supervised as they can just wander into next door.

I dont know what to do here. I can't afford to take down next doors wall and put a brand new fence up, which in reality needs to be a 6 ft fence to solve all issues with dogs etc.

But equally I cant really expect next door to fund a new fence if they are happy with whats there. My landlord says its pretty much been like that for the 10 years they have owned the house. So cant see it being a temporary issue.

My dogs got into the neighbours gardens tonight - had tried a tie out stake thing while I was trying to get my little ones off to bed and somehow they have got off. Anyway now the neighbour is very pissed off with me - apparently they were barking at her back door [embarrassed] i know im in the wrong with this and the second I realise I ran out and got them. But I am trying my best in a difficult situation.

I dont know what to do. [Sad]

To be fair, if you choose to have dogs it's really your responsibility to make the space they're in secure.
Your neighbour's shouldn't have to endure your dogs barking at their back door.
Can you afford a wire fence?

Sorry to hear about your situation - it sounds very tough. Could you go round to see the neighbour, opening with an apology, and discuss the situation? Would you be able to split the cost of replacing/repairing the fence if the neighbours were prepared to?

Yes I could possibly split the cost.

Ive got no idea how much we are talking. Its 12/13 ish fence panels as its a long thin garden. Will need to start from scratch with posts etc and somehow remove the wall.

I guess I know I should go and knock but feel so nervouse about it all. I'm so rubbish at this sort of thing.

When I say about when they got to her back door. Im talking a few seconds, no longer. But I do agree this totally isnt on and I feel awful about it.

Does your ll know you have dogs? Surely they can’t think the property is suitable if the boundaries aren’t secure? Trellis can be a cheap way of patching up boundaries, but i would ask your ll for a more permanent solution on the side they own

12 fence panels will cost thousands :(. Also you can’t knock down the wall in f it belongs to your neighbor

I would get it over with and knock on the door - the longer you leave it, the more awkward it will feel. Would you actually need to remove the wall, or could you just add fencing behind it on your side? I've no idea about cost as I've never had to replace a whole fence before - I think wire fencing is usually cheaper, as greyhound suggested above, if that would be robust enough to contain your dogs.

In the meantime, you're probably best keeping them in and giving them extra lead exercise (or taking them somewhere else for off-lead exercise). If you speak to your neighbour armed with measures you're taking to stop the problem happening again, that should help.

Yes the landlord knows we have dogs, its agreed in our tenancy. I did bring it up when signing contracts that I was concerned about the wall and fencing. But tbh being on housing benefit in this area means 98% of landlords wont even give you the time of day so I didn't really feel in a position to start making demands. They did say they would consider doing their side but didnt really give a definate answer. If it was just the LL side then I would offer to contribute to put me in a better position to ask them to do it but if I end up having to fund the other side.....

The LL should pay the cost of his side, surely? If he wants to continue letting the property, it needs to be in a reasonable state - you might have had limited options due to circumstance, but someone not in a hurry and privately funding would probably have walked away. You could point out to him that it's unsafe for your DC (possibly would be more effective than talking about the dogs).

I did have a teenage dog walker that came daily which really helped me out but she has just moved away. That meant that they got an extra hour walk on top of whatever I could offer them.

Im just so stressed with it its affecting my mental health and my parenting. All over a bloody fence

You could try family fund

Family fund might contribute towards materials but only ever up to the value of £500 max (if we are lucky). We have considered this.

If its going to cost thousands I really cant make up the shortfall. Im paying over the odds for this house, which is what makes it even more depressing. Housing benefits pay around 60% of the rent but I pay the rest, without working so its tough financially.

I have applied for an OT assessment for my son as he is registered severely disabled but they didnt sound too hopeful that they would be able to help with the garden.

Is it worth seeing if you can find another dog walker? Or is there a friend/family member with a secure garden who could take the dogs for a few hours and let them run round? It does sound a nightmare for you .

It might be worth posting in one of the SN topics for advice around your son's assessment, funding etc.

Im looking for another dog walker. But any professionals round here charge around £12-15 per hour PER DOG. Which I cant afford on a daily basis.
This teenager took both for £5 an hour (although always seemed return them after 45 mins! Ideal. Although she was so unreliable and certainly not the best. But beggars cant be choosers and it gave me an hour of respite every day and meant they got some extra exercise.

Sign up for freecycle or similar for some free fencing, alway lots on there!! It's hard graft but I have put a fence up with a friend to help!!

You could ask around in your new area if any teens might want the job - if you take them out and about you could chat to other dog walkers in the area and that might give you a lead.

(No pun intended!)

You can get fence panels online for as little as £25. Even with posts, the family fund should be able to cover the majority of your whole fencing replacement cost as you say it's 12 or 13 panels?

Do a bit of shopping research online and see what you can come up with. Unfortunately it's up to you to secure your dogs from going into the neighbour's property. If you apply for and get the family fund grant, perhaps you could approach the LL to pick up the rest of the costs and get it done properly.

A 6-6 panel should be about £25 I think, so about £300 for the lot. If you can I would go for concrete slide in slide out posts if the landlord doesn't mind. That means if a storm breaks one you just spend £25 on a new panel and slot it right in.

This sort : www.travisperkins.co.uk/Supreme-Concrete-Intermediate-Slotted-Fence-Post-109mm-x-94mm-x-2440mm/p/700243?gclid=Cj0KCQiAl8rQBRDrARIsAEW_To_4H7CZqhvkPJpBfjEHhfBltInYycIsiskMO8mQYdPdhtj-gIFs2jsaAmLKEALw_wcB

That cost is just for thr panels though isnt it? The posts will double it at least plus concrete. And I physically can't put it up myself. Ive got joint problems. Hypermobility and Arthritis and cant really do heavy work like that. This house move has been so painful for me and its been exhausting.

Our previous flat had a lot of thick chicken wire along two sides. It was pretty ugly but it worked. We covered it up with bamboo screening which worked well and was a cheap solution.

How big are the dogs? We had a kind of netting for chickens that you just hammered in to the ground but I'm not a dog person, I'm not sure if they would just jump it? It wouldn't keep a child in obviously. www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/omlet_chicken_fencing/

Ive been debating some wire fencing/chicken wire type stuff.

Does anybody know how id attach it to the wall?

Would you not just put posts up and have it running behind the wall? If the wall is crumbling it's probably better not to try to attach anything to it .